Generally described, computing devices utilize a communication network, or a series of communication networks, to exchange data. Companies and organizations operate computer networks that interconnect a number of computing devices to support operations or provide services to third parties. The computing systems can be located in a single geographic location or located in multiple, distinct geographic locations (e.g., interconnected via private or public communication networks). Specifically, data centers or data processing centers, herein generally referred to as “data centers,” may include a number of interconnected computing systems to provide computing resources to users of the data center. The data centers may be private data centers operated on behalf of an organization or public data centers operated on behalf, or for the benefit of, the general public.
Existing routing and addressing technologies can enable multiple data centers to provide similar or identical content to client computing devices. In some instances, each data center providing a set of content may be referred to as a point-of-presence (“POP”) for a content delivery system (or other organization) providing the content. Content delivery systems often prefer to connect users to a geographically-nearby POP, as such connections are commonly quicker and more reliable than connections between a user and a geographically-distant POP. Accordingly, a content delivery system can maintain POPs over a wide area (or worldwide). Thereafter, requests for content from the content delivery system can be routed to a nearby POP for fulfillment.
In some instances, geographic proximity may not be the only criterion used to route a user request to a POP. Illustratively, POPs within a content delivery system may have limited capacity, such that not all users near a POP can be served content simultaneously. In instances where the load of requests serviced by a POP exceeds a desired amount, the content delivery system may utilize load balancing techniques to route requests to a more geographically-distant or otherwise less preferred POP.